Litherland High School Liverpool, UK

The design for Litherland High School creates an innovative learning environment - a radical departure from traditional, institutional school buildings.

The scheme comprises three elements: the Bar, which houses the large volumes (sports hall, dining and drama); the Ribbon, which has both traditional and open teaching spaces, and the linking glazed Atrium, providing areas for exhibitions and break-out dining. The Bar shields the school from excessive solar gain, allowing the teaching spaces to envelop the outdoor play spaces, enhancing passive surveillance.

Classrooms have mixed-mode heating and ventilation systems with a heat exchanger. Other sustainability initiatives include a rainwater collection for toilet flushing; a biomass boiler; natural ventilation to the large volumes and surface-water-retaining swale. A solar hot water generator and a wind turbine are used as educational devices, with their outputs used within the Science department and displayed on screens throughout the school.